Scottish Executive

Care of Elderly People

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to comments by Steve McCabe, MP for Birmingham Hall Green, referring to free personal care as "the failed 'free' care policy pursued in Scotland"

Mr Frank McAveety: Free personal care has been in place since 1 July 2002.

  The evidence is that implementation is progressing well and the Executive would regard the policy as a success.

Care of Elderly People

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £250 million for free personal care has been allocated to each local authority.

Mr Frank McAveety: The overall allocation was £107 million for 1 July 2002 to 31 March 2003 and £143 million for 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. The table shows the breakdown for individual authorities.

  Free Personal Care Allocations

  


Local Authority 
  

Starting 1 July 2002
(£000) 
  

Starting 1 April 2003
(£000) 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

4,243 
  

5,669 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

4,950 
  

6,684 
  



Angus 
  

3,466 
  

4,667 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

2,655 
  

3,547 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

661 
  

871 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

3,744 
  

5,037 
  



Dundee City 
  

3,018 
  

3,997 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

2,649 
  

3,548 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

2,255 
  

3,060 
  



East Lothian 
  

1,868 
  

2,500 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

2,210 
  

2,990 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

12,170 
  

16,310 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

454 
  

589 
  



Falkirk 
  

2,195 
  

2,921 
  



Fife 
  

7,504 
  

10,067 
  



Glasgow City 
  

10,763 
  

14,019 
  



Highland 
  

4,106 
  

5,513 
  



Inverclyde 
  

1,941 
  

2,577 
  



Midlothian 
  

1,326 
  

1,785 
  



Moray 
  

1,869 
  

2,516 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

3,226 
  

4,327 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

4,232 
  

5,617 
  



Orkney 
  

255 
  

340 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

4,517 
  

6,098 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

3,082 
  

4,126 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

2,651 
  

3,552 
  



Shetland 
  

248 
  

325 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

3,221 
  

4,329 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

5,920 
  

7,936 
  



Stirling 
  

2,175 
  

2,926 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

1,591 
  

2,101 
  



West Lothian 
  

1,835 
  

2,455 
  



Total 
  

107,000 
  

143,000

Construction Industry

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed with the Department of Trade and Industry the impact of increased public liability insurance costs on employment levels in the construction industry.

Iain Gray: We are in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including the impact of increased public liability insurance costs on construction industry employment levels.

Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public bodies have submitted members' codes of conduct under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public bodies have had members' codes of conduct approved under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public bodies have not submitted members' codes of conduct under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which public bodies have had their members' codes of conduct approved under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which public bodies have submitted members' codes of conduct that have not been approved under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Mr Andy Kerr: At 11 March 2003 a total of 104 devolved public bodies had submitted codes of conduct under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. Consideration of the codes of conduct for members of devolved public bodies will be finalised shortly and the bodies will then be notified of ministers’ decisions. This will be completed well in advance of the 1 May commencement of the ethical standards framework.

  Thirty-five codes have yet to be submitted from bodies which will come within the ethical standards framework on 1 May 2003. These relate to boards of management of further education colleges whose sectoral code has only recently been agreed with the Association of Scottish Colleges.

  The codes for The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and The Cairngorms National Park are not required to be submitted until 1 September and 1 December 2003 respectively. This was specified in the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (Stipulated Time Limit) Order 2003 (SSI/2003/122).

Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which public bodies have members' registers of interest under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and whether, and how, each such register is made available to the public.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which public bodies do not have members' registers of interest under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and what action has been taken to ensure compliance.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any member of a public body has, since the introduction of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, refused to register an interest and, if so, what action was taken in each case.

Mr Andy Kerr: Devolved public bodies which come within the ambit of the 2000 act will not need to have their register of interest in place until May 2003. The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 (Register of Interests) Regulations 2003 (SSI/2003/135), made on 5 March 2003, stipulates that the register should be open to public inspection at an office of the applicable council or devolved public body at all reasonable hours and without charge.

Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether members of public bodies are required to register pecuniary interests under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.

Mr Andy Kerr: Members will be required to register financial and non-financial interests. Full details of the requirements are set out in the Model Code of Conduct, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre .

Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether members of public bodies are required to register non-pecuniary interests under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and, if so, whether such interests include membership of clubs, organisations and political parties.

Mr Andy Kerr: Members of devolved public bodies listed in schedule 3 of the 2000 act will be required to register non-financial interests which may be of significance, relevance or bear upon the work or operation of the devolved public body. This includes membership of other public bodies; clubs, societies and organisations; trade unions, and voluntary organisations.

Fair Trade

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1904 by Mr Jack McConnell on 28 February 2000, what progress has been made towards the hosting of a promotional event for fair trade suppliers.

Mr Andy Kerr: This year, from 10 to 14 March (during the second week of Fairtrade fortnight) each Executive staff restaurant will have a promotional stall allowing staff to sample Fairtrade Mark products. Also, posters promoting fair trade products are being prominently displayed in staff restaurants. The Executive has also taken other steps to help support Fairtrade labelled products. For example, by the end of April 2003 each staff restaurant will offer staff a choice of fairtrade tea and coffee. We are also working with our catering contractor to ensure that, in future, tea and coffee served at official meetings will carry a recognised fairtrade label.

Fair Trade

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to including the promotion of fair trade products within its healthy eating campaign.

Malcolm Chisholm: The healthy eating campaign, Healthy Living, does not aim to promote particular branded products. Therefore, we do not plan to promote fairtrade products as part of the campaign.

Firearms

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been under the firearms legislation in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99, (c) 1999-2000, (d) 2000-01 and (e) 2001-02.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the table.

  Persons With a Charge Proved Under Firearms Legislation1 in Scottish Courts, 1997-2001

  


Year 
  

Persons With a Charge Proved 
  



1997 
  

310 
  



1998 
  

223 
  



1999 
  

180 
  



2000 
  

152 
  



2001 
  

153 
  



  Note:

  1. Where the main offence was an offence under the Firearms Act 1968 or the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what projects are funded under the Health Improvement Fund and what funding has been provided to each project, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: Full details about projects funded by the Health Improvement Fund across Scotland, between 2000-01 and 2003-04, is given in the Investment Report Putting the Pieces in Place.  This is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 19606) or from the Scottish Executive website www.scotland.gov.uk.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the amalgamation of the Health Education Board for Scotland and the Public Health Institute for Scotland will cost and what the projected savings are in each year, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: The overall financial effect of the integration of the Health Education Board for Scotland and the Public Health Institute of Scotland will be cost neutral.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been provided to each NHS board to introduce and develop new hospital appointment systems in each year since 1999-2000 and what future funding will be provided, as referred to in chapter 4 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: Information, Management and Technology Strategies are agreed at NHS health board level together with associated local investment plans, which will include provision for systems such as hospital appointments systems. The Health Department intends to investigate with the service new ways of making appointments which will bring a closer involvement for the patient in the appointment process and may involve the use of contact centres for hospitals.

Justice

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its interpretation is of whether extradition between European Union member states was abolished as a result of the Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant.

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it interprets to be extradition, as referred to in the European Union Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European arrest warrant.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32291 on 16 December 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search ..

NHS Spending

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent, in real terms, on the NHS in each year since 1996-97, showing percentage change year on year.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is set out in the following table:

  


Year 
  

Expenditure at 2003-04 Prices
(£ Million) 
  

Real Terms Percentage Increase 
  



1996-97 
  

5,454 
  
 



1997-98 
  

5,483 
  

0.5% 
  



1998-99 
  

5,607 
  

2.3% 
  



1999-2000 
  

5,700 
  

1.7% 
  



2000-01 
  

6,015 
  

5.5% 
  



2001-02 
  

6,566 
  

9.1% 
  



2002-03 Plans 
  

7,139 
  

8.7%

Occupational Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial and other support exists for small- and medium-sized enterprises in dealing with drug and alcohol problems of employees and what support it plans to provide, as referred to in chapter 2 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issued a resource pack with information on occupational health to approximately 77,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises in December 2001. This includes guidance on the development of workplace drug and alcohol policies.

  Scotland’s Health at Work (SHAW) provides free policy advice and guidance to help and support organisations to develop health promoting workplaces. SHAW will receive funding of £750,000 in 2003-04 and is targeted with doubling the participation of small- and medium-sized enterprises within its scheme.

People with Disabilities

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to consult the Scottish Society for Autism, the National Autistic Society and other autism groups regarding the European Year of Disabled People 2003.

Des McNulty: Representatives from the disability sector have been fully involved in developing proposals to mark the European Year of Disabled People in Scotland. A steering group of disability organisations and others with an interest was established during 2002 and has agreed aims and objectives and a programme of activity for the year. The steering group’s programme seeks to cover all types of disability, including autism, and seeks to ensure engagement across all sectors.

  The steering group has no plans specifically to consult with the Scottish Society for Autism, the National Autistic Society and other autism groups regarding the European Year of Disabled People.

People with Disabilities

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what autism groups have been allocated funds as part of the European Year of Disabled People 2003.

Des McNulty: The funding programme for the European Year of Disabled People 2003 is a UK programme run by the Department for Work and Pensions and funded by the European Commission and the UK Government. There were no autism groups among the 22 organisations in Scotland which were successful in their applications for funding under this programme.

People with Disabilities

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to communicate information on the European Year of Disabled People 2003 to disability groups that were not represented on the Scottish Steering Group for the European Year of Disabled People.

Des McNulty: A national newspaper supplement about the European Year of Disabled People was published on 23 January. Information about the year is also available on the Scottish Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/eydp . Steering group members have also disseminated information about the year across their own memberships and networks.

Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations were undertaken by The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in regard to the establishment of the complaints procedure under section 6(3) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations there were before establishing the procedure on complaints or representations about the functions or actions of The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care under section 64(2) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Regulation of Care Project Team in the Scottish Executive prepared draft Care Commission complaints procedures under sections 6 and 64 of the act on the commission's behalf. They consulted widely on them between 4 September and 20 November 2001. All responses were passed to the commission with a report on the consultation. The Care Commission then considered the outcome of the consultation and submitted revised proposals for ministers' approval. The approved complaints procedures were implemented from 1 April 2002, when the Care Commission became operational.

Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how often the complaints procedure established under section 6 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 has been reviewed and what actions have been taken, or amendments to the procedure made, as a result of any such review.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how often the complaints procedure established under Part 5, section 64 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 has been reviewed under section 64(3) and what actions have been taken, or amendments to the procedure made, as a result of any such review process

Mr Frank McAveety: The review of the complaints procedure established by the Care Commission under sections 6 and 64 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 1995 is an operational matter for the commission itself. Ministers must consent to any variation of the procedures, however. There have not yet been any such reviews.

Youth Crime

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a full list of the projects that are to be supported through the Intensive Support Fund and the Youth Crime Prevention Fund.

Cathy Jamieson: I have today published a list of the projects that are to be supported through the Intensive Support Fund (Bib. number 26831) and Youth Crime Prevention (Bib. number 26832) in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  The Intensive Support projects will increase the number and range of places providing intensive supervision for young people who offend. The Intensive Support Fund will also improve programmes in secure accommodation, and after care for young people leaving secure accommodation. The Youth Crime Prevention projects will provide additional constructive activities to divert young people from offending behaviour, assist families in preventing offending behaviour and increase the number of restorative justice projects, including those which support the victims of youth crime.